In known constructions of rack and pinion steering mechanisms, the inner rack tube is slidable, by rotation of the pinion, within a casing formed by an outer rack. Ends of the inner rack project from the casing and are connected to joints, for example, ball joints, which form part of a steering linkage to the steering road wheels. This steering linkage involves a ball and socket joint formed by a ball joint housing which has two chambers. A first chamber has inner threads and is threaded to a complimentary threaded end of the rack tube. A second chamber forms a socket and encompasses the ball end of a tie rod to form the ball and socket joint. At an opposing end, the tie rod is attached through a rotating joint to a knuckle arm which in turn is attached to a steering spindle which rotatably supports a wheel of the motor vehicle. The ball and socket joint and tie rod make up an inner socket assembly.
Repair of the rack and pinion steering or of the tie rod oftentimes requires disassembly of the inner socket assembly by disengagement of the tie rod at the ball and socket joint by unthreading the ball joint housing from the threaded end of the inner rack. However, the housing is located within a section of the unibody of the vehicle at an area constricted by the lower control arm and strut rod connecting to the wheel and otherwise accessible only through a small port opening. Constriction at this area prohibits the use of a power tool to disengage the socket housing. Further, the area is constricted such that, although a manual tool, such as a wrench, may be used to unthread the rack and housing, the permitted angle of rotation of the tool is so small, less than ten degrees, that the tool must be repetitively moved through this small angle of rotation and repetitively engaged and disengaged to the housing before unthreading is accomplished. This is time consuming and it is not unusual that 45 minutes to two hours may be involved in disassembling the mechanism.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method and tool for disassembly and disengagement of the inner socket assembly of a rack and pinion mechanism with a tool, such as a power tool, applied remotely to the ball and socket housing. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and tool permitting disassembly and disengagement of the inner socket assembly of a rack and pinion mechanism within a period of time substantially reduced from that required with known procedures for disassembling such assemblies. Finally, an object of the present invention is to provide a tool and method permitting the innersocket assembly of a rack and pinion mechanism to be easily disassembled and a method for easily extracting the parts to permit repair of the rack and pinion steering mechanism.